Tenavia: one platform for the whole tenancy. Screening, rent, certificates, repairs, photos and records.
Your first tenant, checked properly
Never checked a tenant before? Send every applicant one link, and this shortlist is what comes back: every payslip and bank statement checked, every applicant scored the same way. The rest of your first let is below, in order.
Free for one property.3 applicants a year, everything else included. No card, no expiry.
Landlords start now, no card needed · No account needed for the demo
applicant shortlist5 screened
R. Patel95 · Excellent
Income consistency£2,840 payslip · £2,837 in bankMatch
Payslip integritytax & NI recomputedPassed
Statement ledgercash balance arithmeticPassed
Affordabilityrent is 28% of verified incomeAffordable
Everything a self-managing landlord does, in one place. Free for one property, 3 applicants a year, no card, no expiry. One plan covers the rest.
The questions every first-time landlord asks
Six things to get right when you have never checked a tenant before. Each one says what to do, and what Tenavia does about it.
Do I have to check tenants myself?
Nobody makes you use an agent. The one check the law requires is right to rent, and that is the landlord’s job either way. Everything else is your choice, and it decides how the first year goes.
Done for youThe document checks below run for you. Right to rent stays yours, and we collect the share code an applicant needs for it.
What should I ask a tenant for?
The same from everyone: a recent payslip and three months of bank statements. If they are self-employed, their bank statements and tax records. Ask for ID and their previous landlord’s number when you meet.
Done for youOne link asks every applicant for the same documents and keeps them in one secure place, not your personal inbox.
How do I check a tenant can afford the rent?
Use what actually lands in their bank, not what the payslip claims. Rent at about a third of take-home pay leaves room for a bad month.
Done for youYou see the rent beside the income we verified, and what is left each month.
How do I know a payslip is real?
Fake payslips cost a few pounds online and look real. They usually get the pay right and the tax and National Insurance wrong.
Done for youWe work the deductions out again from HMRC’s own tables. A fake fails the sums.
How do I know a bank statement has not been edited?
Ask for the bank’s own PDF, never a photo of a screen. Every balance should follow from the one before it.
Done for youEvery line is added up again. Change one figure and the statement stops adding up.
How strict should I be?
Consistent, more than strict. Run the same checks on everyone and write down why you chose. With no-fault eviction gone, being able to show a fair choice is what protects you.
Done for youEvery applicant is scored the same way and ranked, with each warning explained in plain words. The score never rejects anyone. You decide.
Three jobs need a person, and they stay yours. We say so because a page that pretends otherwise is not worth trusting.
Check their ID in personOnly someone who meets the applicant can confirm a document is theirs.
Speak to their previous landlordDid they pay on time, and would they take them back?
Do the right to rent checkThe law puts this on the landlord before the tenancy starts.
The whole first let, in order
Six steps between deciding to let and the tenancy running itself. Five are paperwork you can work through. One is the decision you live with.
01
Get the property ready and legal
Gas and electrical safety certificates, an energy certificate, working alarms, and your lender’s consent if there is a mortgage. The government’s guidance has the current list.
With Tenavia: Upload each certificate once. Its renewal is watched and you are reminded before it lapses.
02
Set the rent from evidence
What similar properties actually let for, not what a hopeful listing asks. You advertise one price and cannot take bids above it, so choose it carefully.
03
List it, and decide the pack before the flood
Dozens of enquiries in days is normal for a fairly priced property. Decide now what you will ask every applicant for, so nobody can say the goalposts moved.
With Tenavia: Your screening link exists before the first enquiry, ready to paste into any reply. Viewings become requests you approve.
04
Check the applicants
The same documents from everyone, checked by arithmetic rather than trust. This is the step above, and the one mistake on this list you cannot undo.
With Tenavia: 47 checks on every application and a ranked shortlist. The score never rejects anyone. You decide.
05
Set up the tenancy
The agreement. The deposit protected within 30 days, with its paperwork. The right to rent check. The written statement of terms and the certificates handed over.
With Tenavia: Every deadline reminded before it lapses, and a dated note of what was given and when.
06
Keep the record
Rent watched to the day, certificate renewals diarised, every room photographed at move-in. Tenancies end badly when nobody kept the record.
With Tenavia: Rent check-ins, reminders, the condition record and the whole file in one place, printable the day you need it.
What Tenavia does for you
Free for one property.3 applicants a year, everything else included. No card, no expiry.
Screen the tenantsApplicants send payslips and bank statements through your link. You get a ranked list. See howClose
One reply to paste into OpenRent or any listing site. Screening questions before viewings, so you only show people who fit.
47 checks on every applicant. Every warning says why. You make the choice.
Record the property’s conditionDated photos at move-in, inspections and move-out, side by side. See howClose
Take the photos on your phone. At the next inspection the camera shows the last photo faintly, so you line up the same shot.
Every photo is dated by us, not by the phone.
Stay compliantGas, electrical and energy certificates, and the deposit deadline. We remind you before they run out. See howClose
One page shows every date. Reminders by email before anything lapses.
No software makes you compliant, but nothing here gets forgotten.
Find a tradespersonTenants report a problem through a link. You request tradesperson quotes in one tap. See howClose
No app and no account for the tenant. You see the report with photos.
Pick a tradesperson, keep the quote, and the job is on the record.
Track the moneyRent checked off each month. Receipts kept for your tax return. See howClose
Late rent gets a dated letter you can send.
Receipts are read and filed in the boxes HMRC uses.
Everything is dated and kept in one file, ready if there is ever a dispute.
Your first let, run properly
Start with a process instead of learning one the expensive way.
One link checks every applicant on the same evidence. Then the deadlines, the rent and the condition record are watched for as long as the tenancy runs, which is the half nobody warns a first-time landlord about.
Free for one property · 3 applicants a year · No card, no expiry · Unlimited applicants and printable exports from £8 a month
Questions first-time landlords ask
The ones that decide how the first year goes.
Do I need a letting agent for my first property?
No. An agent sells time and process: advertising, filtering, checking, paperwork. You can run all of it yourself with the right tools, for a fraction of a monthly fee. What you should not do is manage it yourself with no process at all. That is the expensive middle ground.
What checks am I legally required to do on a tenant?
One: the right to rent check, through the official government service, for every adult who will live there. Income checks, references and document checks are not required by law. They are the difference between choosing on evidence and hoping. Do the official check yourself and let the evidence checks run for you.
How do I check a tenant has a job and where they work?
The payslip names the employer. The bank statement shows whether that employer actually pays them, on the dates the payslip says. If the salary never lands, or lands from somewhere else, ask why before you go any further. Tenavia looks for exactly that match on every application.
What is the biggest first-time mistake?
Choosing on the viewing because the checks felt awkward. Everything else on the setup list is paperwork you can put right later. The tenant decision is the one you live with, and the applicants most worth avoiding are often the ones who come across best.
How long does finding a tenant take?
Listing to a flood of enquiries: days, for a fairly priced property. Flood to shortlist: as long as your sorting takes, which is where most of the time goes. Shortlist to a checked decision: minutes per applicant once the documents arrive through one link.
What does the tenant have to receive from me?
Before they move in: the gas safety certificate, the electrical safety report, the energy certificate and the written statement of terms (it replaced the How to Rent guide in May 2026). Then the deposit scheme’s paperwork once the deposit is protected. Keep a dated note of when each one was given, and check the official guidance for the current list.
What happens if it goes wrong later?
Getting the property back now runs on legal grounds rather than a no-fault notice, and each ground has to be evidenced. That is why the boring record matters: when the rent arrived, when the certificates went out, what the rooms looked like at move-in. The landlord who kept the record is the one who can actually use a ground.
What does Tenavia cost a first-time landlord?
Nothing, for one property. The free plan covers 3 checked applicants a year and everything else, with no card and no end date. Keeper, at £8 a month, adds unlimited applicants and the printable evidence exports for that property; more properties are covered by the plans above it.
Free for one property · 3 applicants a year · No card, no expiry